State finds toxics imperil Ship Channel neighbors

SOMETHING DANGEROUS IN THE AIRMonitors show air pollution at 11 hot spots in the Houston area can sicken residents

DINA CAPPIELLO, Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Published 6:30 am, Wednesday, January 11, 2006

When Victor Sarmiento reports to work aboard the Lynchburg Ferry each day, he worries about what he will breathe.

For 12 years, as he has steered the commuter ferry across the Houston Ship Channel, Sarmiento occasionally has been overtaken by fumes — odors so strong they burn his eyes and his nose and make him wonder whether there will be long-term effects on his health.

"It's still here. It's still around," Sarmiento, 49, said of the stench, which was so powerful in June that it invaded his enclosed pilot box with its panoramic view of nearby industrial plants. "I don't know what it is, or what kind of health problems it causes."

The Lynchburg Ferry is one of 11 hot spots in the Houston region, where levels of toxic chemicals in 2004 exceeded state odor thresholds or health guidelines in more locales than any other part of Texas, according to the latest air pollution data from the state.

Most are communities and workplaces along the Ship Channel. There, concentrations of hazardous air pollutants recorded by state monitors reached levels high enough to create sickening odors or increase the chances of getting cancer if an individual were exposed over a lifetime.

In some cases, such as Galena Park and the southeast Houston neighborhood of Manchester, the data show the problem has been there for years despite a state permit process that is supposed to ensure pollution does not exceed health and odor guidelines.

"The goal of our agency is to help ensure that people don't have health effects from air emissions. We don't want that any more than they don't want that," said Michael Honeycutt, chief of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's toxicology section. The agency collects pollution data from 41 monitors in four counties around Houston.

"We have only a handful of places where we have concerns," Honeycutt said. "The problem is that those handful of places are surrounded by large amounts of industry and it is really hard to figure out the source."

Alerting the public

In the meantime, the TCEQ, for the first time, plans to talk to local leaders to assess how best to disseminate the report's conclusions to people living in the impacted communities.

Galena Park Mayor Bobby Barrett had yet to hear word on Monday of his community's high benzene readings. "It really bothers me that I am not getting these figures," Barrett said. "We have three schools around that monitor. This would affect each one of those."

In Galveston County, health officials said the pollution levels were worthy of investigation, but did not warrant a public health warning. "At this point, it wasn't considered a big health threat," said Kurt Koopmann, of the county's health district.

Houston Mayor Bill White said the latest data again point to a need for the state to better evaluate emissions from multiple sources before it issues a permit to a company to pollute. The state currently evaluates the impact of pollution on a facility-by-facility basis, rather than looking at the cumulative effect of all industry in the area.

In 2004, average concentrations of butadiene in Milby Park were the highest they've been since 2000. "I am disturbed that the butadiene levels in the Milby Park area increased again," Alvarado said.

Workers' health complaints

In 2004, the report showed concentrations of 11 different chemicals exceeded levels where an odor would be noticeable 143 times. More than half of those violations occurred at the Lynchburg Ferry, where several employees, including Sarmiento, reported feeling ill in June because of fumes.

Long-term concentrations of carcinogenic pollutants were a concern at seven of the 11 sites. Specifically, TCEQ found:

•Concentrations of benzene, a human carcinogen at the Lynchburg Ferry, in Galena Park and in Texas City, at levels that if inhaled continuously over 70 years could result in 10 to 60 additional people in a population of 1 million contracting cancer. The TCEQ has said it wants every community in the state to have a cancer risk from pollution no greater than 10 in 1 million. Some other states have goals of one in 1 million.
•High levels of formaldehyde in Channelview, Deer Park and along Clinton Drive. Formaldehyde is not a proven carcinogen, but can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is evaluating the risk posed by the odorous chemical.
•At Milby Park, where a Chronicle study in summer 2004 found risky concentrations of 1,3-butadiene, the state data reaffirmed the newspaper's results: Butadiene, a carcinogen emitted from nearby plants, is at levels there that could possibly, over a lifetime, cause an additional 300 people in a population of 1 million to get cancer. However, data taken this year show that the levels in the area, where nearby companies have signed agreements to reduce their emissions, are on their way down.
"The levels that are in these hot spots remain troubling, but the state is clearly concluding that themselves and they are seeking to work with these companies that are associated with these levels to reduce them," said Jonathan Ward, a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

In some places, finding pollution sources will be easier than in others. At Milby Park, the large sources of butadiene were obvious. But benzene, formaldehyde and some of the compounds responsible for odors in the region are being emitted by a plethora of sources, including industry, cars, even household products.

State officials say they are armed with new tools to hunt down the sources — including infrared cameras that can spot leaks, monitors that measure and report pollution closer to real time, and strategies in place to analyze the data quicker.

"We are getting the best possible information. We are using new means to find out where the problems may be. We are acting faster," TCEQ member Ralph Marquez said.

At the Lynchburg Ferry, investigations by the state and Harris County have led to two pending enforcement cases against Channel Shipyard. Regulators believe the barge-cleaning facility north of the ferry landing is responsible for the high levels of styrene detected in the area.

That chemical could have been responsible for the odors the ferry workers reported. People who take the three-minute ride across the Ship Channel each day are unlikely to be exposed long enough to be put at risk.

Business faces probe

The Galveston County Health District, along with the state, plans to investigate Black Marlin Pipeline after an analysis showed that benzene recorded at the Texas City monitor is highest when blowing from the facility's direction.

"It is something that does merit a closer look," said Kelly Swan, a spokesman for Williams Co., which owns the natural gas processing facility. "We are committed to full compliance with all air pollution regulations ... and would be happy to participate in any investigation."

In Galena Park, the state is zeroing in on a band of industry along Clinton Drive, southeast of the monitor with the high benzene readings.

Among the facilities there that could be contributing to the risky concentration of benzene is a tank farm run by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. Of the 100 tanks on site, only one — a 12,000-gallon container — holds benzene.

The company said it is "in total compliance with all environmental laws, regulations and facility permits at Galena Park."

Lorena Guilanshah, a Kinder Morgan spokeswoman, noted, however, that there is a lot of other industry in the same general direction.

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